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[Gum-Gum… Whip!]
[Wind Style: Wind Blade!]
With Luffy and Bai Ye going all out, the Marines Morgan brought were thrown into absolute chaos.
Forget their guns—they were just regular dudes.
No way they could stand a chance against Luffy and Bai Ye.
Luffy had Devil Fruit powers, for crying out loud. The power of rubber!
And Bai Ye? That guy was straight-up busted!!!
Fighting him was like lighting a candle in a toilet—just asking for crap to go down.
So, in a chorus of screams and despair, most of the Marines either got knocked out cold by Luffy or ended up severely slashed by Bai Ye's wind blades.
Meanwhile, Zoro was facing off against Morgan.
If you judged by aura alone, it looked like this was gonna be one hell of a showdown.
But what really happened?
[Three-Sword Style — Oni Giri!]
Before Morgan could even finish a sentence, Zoro had already slashed a huge gash right across his chest.
"Blood gushed out as the once-proud man, whose tyrannical rule had become absolute, collapsed slowly to the ground."
Now, on the execution platform, only four people remained standing: Bai Ye, Zoro, Luffy, and Lika—still nestled safely in Bai Ye's arms.
"Hey, Bai Ye, wasn't that move of yours a little over-the-top?"
Luffy looked kind of sulky. He'd taken down plenty of marines, but compared to Bai Ye, there was still a big gap.
After all, Luffy was more of a close-range brawler. When it came to crowd control, there was no way he could match Bai Ye, a long-range magic-type fighter.
"Hahaha, Captain, thanks for letting me shine," Bai Ye laughed, clearly pleased with himself.
"Luffy, Bai Ye," Zoro sheathed his swords and walked over. "We should probably get out of here now."
"Before the rest of the marines figure out what's going on."
"Got it!"
Luffy clapped his hands together, holding onto his straw hat with a big grin.
"Since Zoro's agreed to join the crew, there's no reason to stick around here!"
"So next up—"
[Gum-Gum… Binding Wrap!]
Suddenly, Luffy stretched out both arms and tied Zoro and Bai Ye to himself with a tight knot.
"Time to get the hell outta here! Wahahaha!!"
As Luffy burst out laughing, Zoro and Bai Ye's faces instantly went pale.
Zoro: "Oi! You're not seriously—"
Bai Ye: "Luffy, wait, we don't need to—"
Too late. Before either of them could finish, Luffy was already sprinting toward the nearest wall.
"AAAHHHH!!!"
With a combo of screams and laughter, the three of them vaulted straight over the wall and disappeared into the distance.
Luffy even remembered to shout for—
Koby, who'd been watching everything like a front-row audience member for several chapters.
Watching Zoro and Bai Ye get dragged across the ground like rag dolls, Koby gulped nervously.
Thank goodness Luffy-san doesn't have a third arm...
"With that thought, Koby picked up Lika and quickly left the marine base
And right after they were gone, the very spot that Bai Ye and the others had torn through suddenly flooded with marines.
They worked quickly and efficiently, rounding up everyone left on the field.
The officer in charge walked straight over to Morgan.
"Captain Morgan—no, just Morgan now."
The officer adjusted his collar, then shouted loudly at the fallen man:
"All your crimes—and the crimes of the soldiers who supported you—have been fully reported to Marine HQ!"
"I officially declare: YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"
Maybe it was the years of pent-up frustration, but the officer's voice just kept getting louder—so loud that it actually woke Morgan from his blood-loss-induced daze.
Morgan squinted, the sunlight stabbing into his eyes so he couldn't see clearly.
But he still recognized that voice—it had always been the loudest one opposing him over the years.
"Lieutenant Bryan... So, you made a deal with the pirates after all, huh?"
Morgan finally pieced it all together.
No wonder...
A cloud drifted in and blocked out the sun.
And the silhouette in front of him slowly came into focus—it was that same marine who'd met with Bai Ye earlier and paid out his bounty.
Flashback—Back when Bai Ye asked the marines for help.
"Help?""Mr. Bai Ye, what exactly do you mean?"
The marines looked confused.
"Ah, maybe 'help' isn't the right word," Bai Ye said, smiling kindly."Let's call it... a mutually beneficial collaboration."
"NANI?!"
Inside Lika's tavern, Luffy spat out his juice.
"Bai Ye, you actually worked with the marines?!"
"You really never stop surprising people," Zoro muttered, still a little shocked—even after everything that had already happened today.
"Is that a problem, Captain?" Bai Ye wiped his face, now dripping with juice, and gave Luffy a half-annoyed look.
"But we're pirates!" Luffy shouted. "Why would marines work with people like us?! We're the bad guys!"
Bai Ye: …
Well, at least you've got some self-awareness.
"First of all, we don't even have a pirate flag or a ship yet. And our crew only has three people."
Bai Ye explained patiently:
"So technically speaking, we don't even count as real pirates in the marines' eyes. At most, we're just some wannabe pirates... maybe just 'freelancers'."
"NANI?" Luffy's eyes bulged. "We're not real pirates?!"
Then he clapped his hands together. "No wonder I haven't seen a wanted poster for myself yet!"
Bai Ye: …
"Which is why, under those circumstances, working with the marines wasn't hard at all."
"Sōka!" Luffy suddenly looked like he'd had an epiphany. "Bai Ye, you're a genius!"
Bai Ye: "Thanks, but honestly, hearing that from you doesn't exactly make me proud."
"So, my dear Captain," he added with a mischievous smile—like a girlfriend grilling her boyfriend back on Earth—"Do you realize what you did wrong yet?"
"Huh?"Clearly, Luffy didn't see the problem.
"YOU DIDN'T NEED TO DRAG US OVER THE WALL, YOU DUMBASS!!!"
[Flash Spell!]
Pause
Luffy: "Gomennasai~!"
"Hahahaha! Man, you guys are hilarious!"
Off to the side, Zoro was gulping down wine from a cup, watching them bicker like best friends.
And honestly, he was starting to look forward to this adventure.
Going out to sea with these two?
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
The Captain might seem unreliable, but somehow he had this magnetic charm that made people trust him.
And the other guy? That dude was like a treasure chest—you never knew what kind of surprise he'd pull out next.
Like just now: not only did he bust Zoro out, but he even managed to score some perks from the marines while doing it.
Wait a sec.
Zoro suddenly froze.
"Bai Ye, YOU SON OF A—!!!"
Shing!
Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji and swung straight at Bai Ye.
"Whoa, Zoro! You drunk?!"
"If you'd already made a deal with the marines, why didn't you just go finish off Morgan yourself?"
"You came all the way to find me, acted out some play—just to trick me into joining your damn crew?!"
Damn it, why does this directionally-challenged idiot always have a perfect sense of clarity at the weirdest times?
"Oh yeah! Bai Ye, that was kinda mean—tricking Zoro like that!"
Luffy, you traitor! Whose side are you on?!
You're both dead meat!
As the three of them yelled and wrestled with each other—without knocking over a single thing in the tavern—Lika and her mother couldn't help but laugh.
"Mom, Mr. Bai Ye and the others… they're actually really nice people, huh?"
"That's right, sweetie. One day, you should grow up to be just as kind and strong as them."
"Mm! I will, Mom!"
And just like that, the tavern was filled with warm, happy laughter.
"....."